City working on new holiday lights

A cooperative effort between the city's Electric Utility and the Ukiah Main Street Program to decorate downtown trees for the holidays will be presented to the Ukiah City Council Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the council approved the first part of the plan, which is for the Electric Utility to purchase LED lights and for the Main Street Program to install and maintain them.

"We do not have a clear understanding of what we want to do, we are asking the council if (this joint project) is of interest," Electric Utility Director Mel Grandi told the council at its Sept. 5 meeting, adding that he was proposing spending $7,000 or less on the lights.

The purchase would be made as part of four Public Benefit Programs the utility is required to create and spend 2.85 percent of its gross revenues on. Grandi explained the LED light ropes would save money and qualify as an Energy Efficiency Demonstration Project.

"You're going to buy the lights and someone else is going to install them?" asked Mayor Mary Anne Landis, and Grandi said the Main Street Program had offers of donated equipment and time for the installation.

"All those issues, including compliance, need to be worked out -- this is just to buy the lights," he said, explaining that the lights being considered are ropes of LEDs, 100 feet per tree.

"The maintenance is down, and (they lend themselves) to less vandalism," he said, explaining that one of the biggest problems with the "incandescent lights is that kids and other people vandalize them."

Last year, lights were put up on the trees along School Street but were taken down less than a week later at the city's request.

"We're waiting for (the Main Street Program) to deliver to us a plan for approval," said Assistant City Manager Sage Sangiacomo. "Lights were put up last year that had to be taken down because they weren't up to code. We requested this year that they come to us with a proposal before the lights are put up."

"I was embarrassed by our tree-lighting program on School Street compared with other communities and I will oppose anything that comes across like it was prepared by an elementary school," said Council member Phil Baldwin. "I would rather have no lighting than have something look atrocious, like our last attempt."

"An alternative would be to provide lights to each business so they can put up the lighting," Landis said.

Representatives of the Ukiah Main Street program are scheduled to present the tree-lighting plan at Wednesday's meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at 300 Seminary Avenue.